


If Only I Knew You Sooner

by Spinacheese93



Category: Free!
Genre: After the swap the name refers to their real self but in the other's body, Body Swap AU, Expect Makoto with the Matsuokas and Rin with the Tachibanas relationship, Hope that it won't be confusing, Supposedly angsty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-14
Updated: 2015-08-11
Packaged: 2018-03-23 00:09:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3748285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spinacheese93/pseuds/Spinacheese93
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on the idea I post of tumblr</p><p>"We’re unlucky strangers that accidentally have our body switched after this rad party. We met and you urged us to find a way to switch back because you’re going to get married by the end of the month. While finding, we had to live each others lives and had to have a consistent meeting over what we have found out because we don’t live near each other. As the days passed, you started panicking and one day you screamed at me because I had stopped trying. It seems that you have an uncurable disease. It really hurts and I don’t want you to feel it. </p><p>And I also have fallen in love with you while living as you, with what your friends and fiance told me, you are an angel. Even though, I am now in your body, I can’t forget this expression I accidentally made with your face. And I am really jealous of your fiancee/fiance, but I’m figuring out a way so that your fiance will love the you now (who is in my body"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Ever since Nagisa joined the dance-off, the crowd that was originally small around them grew. The small guy have talent and the enthusiasm that could entrance people in this dark and busy place. All of a sudden, the air around Makoto had become heavy with the heat and moisture from the people around him. He stepped back and walked towards the bar. It should just be a small party according to Rei, a small welcoming party for Haru who had just came back from a 2 year travel from all around the world. But just earlier, when Nagisa came with his colleague, Momotarou brought another crowd that is also celebrating something, which Makoto couldn’t hear because of the loud music, and this happened.

 

            “It’s a breach of the contract. I should get more money out of this,” A voice came from behind the counters. Makoto chuckled at the sight of Sousuke cleaning out a tall glass for his next customer. “I’ve even told them that we’re short on staff for tonight.”

 

            “Mou, Sousuke… Listen to me will you, and then this guy came out of nowhere and-”

 

            “Hey, Kisumi!” Makoto waved at the man slumped on the bar on his left. He could tell that the cotton candy haired man was drunk.

 

            “Makoto, baby! Look at Sousuke, he’s ignoring me.” Kisumi shifted from the bar onto Makoto’s shoulder. “I was telling him about my day. Not only he’s a barkeeper that should listen to people’s rants, he’s also supposed to be my understanding boyfriend. Makoto, say something.”

 

            Sousuke clicked his tongue when he heard the last statement. Makoto gave Sousuke a questioning look, since it’s the first time he had heard that his two gym buddies are dating. “Firstly, that’s not a barkeeper’s job. Secondly, it helps if you don’t cling on your ex like that and calling him baby. And I don’t want to listen to what your co-workers did to you when you know it’s your fault.”

 

            Makoto could’ve sworn he saw Kisumi holding back a smirk in the soft glow of the dimmed lights in the bar. “Well, Makoto haven’t had any trouble listening to my complaints all day long when we used to date.”

 

            “Kisumi, I’ll be happy if you don’t drag my name into this,” Makoto saw Sousuke’s face changed into a scowl. And Kisumi kept pouring oil into the fire.

 

            _Oh God, I think I know where this is going._

            Makoto changed the subject. “So, um, Sousuke, I think you have to negotiate it with Rei again. I’m sure he’s also the victim. We’re all prepared for a party of 15, not 50.”

 

            “That’s for sure. And what’s up with that friend of yours? He kept giving me the stink eye when I said I don’t serve any mackerel.” Sousuke had one hand pinching the bridge of his nose, finally ignoring Kisumi completely. “He’s your close friend?”

 

            ”It feels nice that after all these 2 years of going away without contact, he’s back unharmed and he hadn’t changed one bit.”

 

            “I’m don’t know if that’s a good thing. Exhibit A,” Sousuke walked out from behind the bar and picked Kisumi up, having one arm on his shoulder, who was apparently half drunk, half sulking and a whole lot of sleepy. “This guy hadn’t changed from the first time I met him. Was and still an airhead.”

 

 _But look at the both of you now_ was what Makoto thought.

 

             “I’m just going to let this guy settle in the room upstairs before he gets handsy and hurt himself. Rin, could you take over for a while?” Sousuke directed to the man approaching from Makoto’s left.

 

              “I’ll sit here for a while.” The voice, probably the man Sousuke asked, Rin answered.

 

               Makoto was just about to turn to greet Rin, but Nagisa ran and grabbed the both of their shoulders so that he didn’t stumble. “Rin-chan, Mako-chan!”

 

              “Careful, kid. I’m not your buddy, what’s with the nickname?” Makoto soon realized that Rin was the person Nagisa was against in their dance-off. The wine-haired guy with the extremely tight pants with leopard prints and a bright smile with teeth that could remind a person of a carnivore.

 

            “Aww, don’t be like that, Rin-chan.” Nagisa shrugged Rin’s remark. “Nee nee, Mako-chan. Haru-chan taught me a good luck spell. It’s supposed to give you strength. Can I try it on you? I want Mako-chan to have the strength that he needs. Can I, Mako-chan?”

 

            Nagisa can be sweet at times like this, and with begging eyes like that, who was Makoto to refuse. It’s the same begging eyes that his twin siblings make when they wanted his attention. Speaking of which, it had been a while since he last went back home. He knew he would be greeted to a grown up Ran and Ren. He should schedule a time to go back home and catch up with the rest of the families. Last night, his family chatroom was busy since his dad had started taking cooking class and some other supplementary living skills after his retirement. There were many pictures of his dad in an apron and the dish that he made for dinner. Boy, the things Makoto would do to get his butt home. He missed his family, he missed the twins and their mischievous pranks and their debates that could have the whole family thinking. He missed his dad, the times where he would take the boys out for a day of fishing and the jokes he made quite frequently that are funny only at certain times, but Makoto laughed at it anyway. His mom, her soothing voice he hears when he called home, and it was that voice that shooed away his tension and worries after a hard day at work. Makoto recalled the times before he left home, he’d offer himself to help around the house in the weekends and when it comes to kitchen work, he had to sit it out and just watch his mother work her magic and wonder what he’ll miss after he had to leave the house.

 

            “Mako-chan?” Nagisa’s voice snapped him out of his trip down memory lane. “Aha, I know that look. Mako-chan’s homesick. All the more reason for me to chant this spell.”

 

            “Whatever, just leave me out of this ridiculous game,” Makoto heard the Rin guy said. Apparently, Nagisa was clinging on to his arm and judging from the wobble Nagisa gave after Rin peeled him off, he’s drunk. Rin hadn’t moved away, but he turned his back towards them.

 

            Makoto heard Nagisa mumble as he placed his hand on Makoto’s head, which could mean he had started chanting. Makoto couldn’t make out the words due to the loud background music.

 

            “Nagisacchi!” Momotarou had launched himself onto Nagisa. Nagisa lost his balanced and grabbed Rin’s hair by instinct making the other male yelp in both pain and shock. At the same time, Makoto’s head was also pulled down as Nagisa tried to stabilize himself. Makoto had to think fast and held onto the counters so that he didn’t hit anything.

 

            “Nagisacchi, I just saw Gou-san and Nii-chan going somewhere together. I want to go greet them but it seems intimate and I-I-I think I’m heartbroken!” Momotarou bawled, ignoring the two victims of Nagisa. “I want to be mad, but this is Nii-chan and Gou-san had the most beautiful smile when he’s around and now I’m just sad.”

 

            Sousuke had to adjust his shirt and smoothened out his messy hair after sending Kisumi to the room upstairs. It’s not supposed to take too long, but something happened and he just let himself went along with it, knowing that Rin could handle the bar, like he always does when Sousuke was pulled away by an emergency. To his surprise, Rin was holding a certain blond by the collar, his teeth bared and Momotarou was hiding behind the blond. He saw Makoto steeping in trying to negotiate with Rin.

 

            “Rin-san, calm down,” he heard Makoto say as he approached them.

 

“Rin, let it go.” Sousuke butted in. He had to keep order of his bar. “I think all of us has had enough fun for tonight.” Rin left almost immediately.

 

Makoto was the designated driver for his group and after he had taken all of his friend, he went back to his quiet apartment. All of a sudden, he felt way too light on his feet when he entered the door way, the room felt uneven, his visions blurred and he panicked. He tried to hold on to the chair of his dining table but missed and fell. His vision blacked before he reached the floor. He expected to feel an impact with the floor, but he didn’t. He felt like he was still falling, as if he was falling into a bottomless pit. Kind of like drifting into nothingness.

 

 He woke up to a sound of a vibration of his phone, a little too near too his neck and it felt ticklish. Then, the vibration stopped.

 

_I was in bed? What happened last night?_

His chest felt tight, body sluggish. Before he had a chance to recall, the phone vibrated again. Without looking at the caller’s ID, he answered it. “This is Makoto.” An unfamiliar voice escaped his throat.

 

“Makoto, this is Rin!” the voice on the other side of the line sounded choked and panicked. “Have you checked in the mirror this morning?”

 

Makoto got up, still half awake and stared at the opposite of the bed, the view of his bedroom was different. “Wait, where am I?”

 

“Possibly, my room,” Rin answered.

 

“Why am I in-” Makoto asked as he ran his fingers in his hair, to his surprise his hair had felt longer, so he pulled a streak of his bangs in front of his eyes and the colour wasn’t his sandy brown hair, and his hands had a skin colour two or more tones lighter than his own skin. Makoto run his hand on his face, he can’t imagine what was happening.

 

“Makoto, listen to me,” Rin was still there, on the line with him. “Before you freak out, we have to meet and talk about this.”

 

            Makoto had a haunch on what’s happening, but it was way too fictional to happen in real life. He tried recalling Rin’s face as he finds his way into Rin’s bathroom. The phone dropped once he saw his own reflection on the bathroom mirror.


	2. Chapter 2

             Makoto ran his tongue again on the set of teeth that he had currently possessed while checking the reflection in the mirror. It only appears to be sharp, he tested it, placing his tongue between the set of upper and lower teeth and tried pressing it down on the muscle. The pressure of ‘sharp’ was there, but it’s not enough to break the skin. It’s kind of exciting, he had to admit.  But, Makoto leave it at that and rather not try and hurt someone, or at least someone’s body. He examined other parts of the face and smiled to himself. The feature of Rin’s face and most of him, were completely different from Makoto’s own. How Rin’s skin so fair and practically blemish-free, while Makoto had a more tanned feature and freckles across his nose and back, and their eyes, Makoto finds himself lost in the pair of magenta eyes. To be honest, Rin is his type.

 

            _Now’s not the time!_ Makoto gave the face a light slap with both of his hands, like he usually does to make himself focus. The bigger problem is, how will they get back to normal? What makes them changed in the first place, and why it’s the two of them? Makoto tried to recall about last night, but honestly, nothing out of the ordinary. He only stepped in to break the tension between Rin and Nagisa, but that’s the only interaction he had with the red-head. He didn’t even get to introduce himself.

 

            “Nagisa!” He exclaimed, and hurriedly grabbed the phone to call him. Rin’s phone was locked with a secret code and he almost forgotten that Nagisa had changed his number recently.

 

            As he paced back and forth, thinking of another way to unlock the phone as he had received a message from an unidentified caller with his number, it had to be from Rin. If he knew Rin’s phone would be locked he wouldn’t have drop the phone and listen to what Rin had got to say. He have to meet Rin one way or another, they have to talk about this.

 

            “I’m home,” he heard a voice at the doorway followed by the sound of the door closing.

 

            “S-Sousuke?”

 

            “Yeah?”

 

            “You live here?”

 

            “For three years, yeah. Rin, you didn’t hit your head or anything when you came home last night?”

 

            Makoto chuckled weakly, embarrassed. “Ssort of… I couldn’t remember my phone’s password. Do you know?”

 

            Sousuke gave him a questioning stare as if it has the most obvious answer. But he caved, maybe it was the expression Makoto made, because he knows he’s bad at hiding his feelings, especially when people look straight at his face, and especially if the person is Haru. But this is Rin’s face. Which means, Sousuke should know Rin the most and maybe, he would know Rin’s password.

 

            “It’s too early for me to be the responsible one right now,” Sousuke sighed. “How should I know what your password is. Have you tried Tracy’s birthday or-”

 

            “Who?” Makoto couldn’t quite catch what Sousuke had suggested since it’s mixed with a yawn. Judging by the way Sousuke held out his hand in silence to stop him from talking and practically dragged his steps towards his room, Makoto shouldn’t ask more from the taller male. He wanted to tell him about the situation, but he should probably wait.

 

            Makoto hit his forehead with his hand. Pfft, of course, he could always go to his own house. Rin should be there. Without any second thought, he ran out of the door.

 

* * *

 

 

            Rin hit the send button and stared at the phone for a whole five minute and then sudden realization hit him. He had just locked his phone with a numeric password a few days ago. He brought his hands to his face. The large and sturdy hand which didn’t belong to him. A few hours ago, he had woken up with his face pressed onto the cold hard tiled floor. His right arm felt stiff, due to lying on the floor that night, which was weird, given that he remembered burying himself under two layers of blanket because last night was very cold. What was even weirder, the place where he had laid were unfamiliar. The place he hadn’t seen before. His first thought about the situation was, he had sleepwalked into a stranger’s house.

 

            “Hey, I think I had sleepwalked into your house. Pardon the interruption,” he called out as soon as he thought that it was the situation. The house was very silent, almost as if he were alone. He looked around, the house weren’t very big, the simple LDK that can be occupied by one bachelor. “Hello?”

 

            That was before he almost screamed at the bathroom, at his own reflection; a tall, domestic looking man with droopy green eyes and sandy brown hair. Before he even got the chance to register the situation, the phone in the back pocket of the jeans he was wearing rung.

 

            _Ran_

            “H-hello?”

 

            “Onii-chan?” He heard a small voice on the end of the line. “Do you have some time?”

 

            Rin gulped at how the voice sounded in distress. His brain had been in overdrive, trying to digest everything, especially the face he saw in the mirror earlier. The girl, Ran sounded like she needed her brother now. But who was her brother, what kind of person was he? How should he go through this? Rin sighed and recalled Gou. He is an older brother too, so, if Ran was Gou, how would Rin handle this? It’s a gamble, but he somehow didn’t have a heart to refuse Ran.

 

            Rin cleared out his throat. “I’m listening.”

 

            It turned out, Ran had a small issue with her friends at school. Two of her friends were fighting over something, which she didn’t explain. Now she had to pick sides. Rin asked about the two parties’ point of view. The truth was she was doing all she can to get the two friend get back together, but both parties didn’t like her meddling and prefer if she take sides. Rin just listened to her going on, with the occasional hum.

 

            “I think what you did was right. You’ve been friends for like-”

 

            “Since early middle school.”

 

            “Yes, right. Okay, so, you definitely cherish the times you were together. Of course you’d want to get them back together, but the issue was… May I know what the issue was again?”

 

            “It-It’s a girl’s thing, I can’t tell you.” Ran sounded flustered, which Rin thought was really cute. Rin assume that it was either caused by spreading of some nasty rumours around the school or boy problems. But it could be neither, just because that was the cause of some girl fights during his school days doesn’t mean it could be the same in this time around. It was no place for Rin to assume.

 

            “I thought that if I knew the problem, I could suggest some other ways to solve it. It’s no good, isn’t it? Either way, I think the both of them were childish, if the cause was as small as you said. Also, you should be honest about what you think and tell the girls. It’s not easy, and if it didn’t work out, which God forbid, you tell me again.”

 

            “Thanks Onii-chan. Even if it didn’t help at all”

 

            “Hey, you didn’t tell me what was the problem.”

 

            “I know,” Ran answered with a chuckle. “I just want someone to listen to my problem. I’ve been keeping it from everyone.”

 

            There was a pregnant pause from both side.

 

            “Nee, Onii-chan. We missed you. It was a little quiet on Dad’s birthday celebration.”

 

            The reply came to Rin naturally. It was like Australia all over again. Gou relentlessly begged him to come home for the first 3 months, which later had just became “we missed you” and “we used to do it together”.

 

            Rin saw a framed picture of ‘his’ family, the person owning the body he was in. It was a family bigger than his own. A father, a mother, a pair of fraternal younger twins. They all share some small features of each other, how all of the children inherited the way the mother’s eyes crinkle when they smile, which complimented by the wide smile they inherited from the father. Even the husband and wife had this matching expression

 

            “Sorry. I’ll try to make it back home this time. Is the guys back home okay?”

 

            “Dad finally nailed the pudding recipe and had been making it since then. We tried to make him stop. I guess he just wanted to make it as perfect before you came home, since you loved chocolate pudding so much. Mum gave him an earful last night. It was so cute and funny.”

 

            Suddenly she lowered her voice to a whisper. “And Ren got confessed to yesterday. It was one of the cutest girl in school.”

 

            “Ran! You nosy girl, give me the phone!” He heard a boy’s voice, barely cracked in the background, it could be her twin. “You heard nothing, Onii-chan. Bye!”

 

            Rin chuckled at the cut out call. That aside, he had to contact himself. For justification of his theory that he had his body swapped with whoever this tall, attractive brunet was, as ridiculous the theory was. Seriously, anyone waking up in a different body would definitely think that either they had their bodies swapped or dead and was reborn in another body. Rin’s rationale picked the earlier.

 

            “This is Makoto,” the person on the other line finally picked up, after a few times the call went to voicemail. The voice, his voice sounded sluggish, as if whoever the person was had just woke up.

 

            _What nerve does this person has to sleep while we’re like this?_

* * *

 

 

            Makoto barged the door open as soon as he got to his apartment. He saw himself, his person staring back at him, his hand holding his phone, with the thumb hovering on a number ready to dial.

 

            “Rin?” He panted. He ran from Rin’s apartment to his, which weren’t that far apart, but could be a heavy cardio workout if someone were to run from the place to another. “I-I… Y-your phone is locked, I can’t open the message.”

 

            Rin, in his body stared at him with mouth agape. Anyone would if they saw their own body in front of their eyes.

 

            “You ran here?” Rin scowled. Makoto couldn’t comprehend why Rin sounded so mad. “In my sleepwear? Great, the block will never let me live it down after this.”

 

            _Oh._ “Sorry, Rin.” Technically, it’s not really embarrassing, it was just a gray tank top and a pajama pants…which had mini shark prints. Makoto hadn’t realized it one bit. No wonder the people he passed by were grinning, he wondered why were they so happy.

 

            “Never mind. Now that you’re here, we can ignore the message. So….” Rin took the phone and unlocked it. The message read to meet at the Corner Café at 3pm. “Makoto, what the hell happened to us?”

 

            “I-” Makoto rubbed the back of his neck.

 

            “I just woke up today, my face was planted on the cold floor. I thought I was sleepwalking but then, when I went to the bathroom, I was someone else. Care to explain?” Rin started first.

 

            “I’m just as shocked as you do, Rin. If not because of your call, I wouldn’t know it any sooner.”

 

            “Well, there has to be an explanation here. I mean, why we switch, me and you. I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

 

            “Actually, we met last night, unofficially. I stopped you from clobbering my friend, Nagisa.”

 

            “You’re with blondie? Huh. How come I couldn’t recall?”

 

            “It was dark and you were angry. Plus, you were putting a target on Nagisa, of course you wouldn’t notice.”

 

            “I was having a bad day and Nagisa was in the way.” Rin mumbled. “I normally wouldn’t do that, you know. Aggression.”

 

            “Hey, I’m not judging.” Makoto raised both hands. “Hey, what are the chances that it was Nagisa’s good luck spell that turned us?”

 

            Rin laughed. “Seriously, Mako? You believe some ‘gibberish’ words could change us?”

 

            Makoto shot Rin an unimpressed look “Haru had just got back from travelling the world, who knows where he went, what he learned. Do you have a better theory?”

 

            “Beats me, my brain couldn’t quite keep up with any of this. And it’s been getting a lot of ridiculous ideas since this morning. So, your plan…?”

 

            “Let’s see if Haru knows what’s up.”

 

            A loud knock was heard on the door. “Mako-chan? Mako-chaaaaan!!”

 

            “Speaking of one of the devils.”

 

            Makoto shot another unimpressed look towards Rin’s remark and answered the door. He was honest when he said he wouldn’t judge, but Rin could be kind of rude. Nagisa jumped at Rin with tears in his eyes.

 

            “Mako-chan, it’s horrible. Horrible! Oh, hey Rin-chan.” Makoto waved with a smile, unable to mask his concern over the younger male, still clinging onto Rin, whom he saw as Mako-chan.

 

            Rin grunted at the mess. “Wh-what is it, Nagisa?”

 

            “Haru…Haru-chan left again. For another 2 weeks.” Nagisa waved a note, Makoto took the note from Nagisa to see for himself. “He just got home two days ago and he left again.”

 

            Rin and Makoto looked at each other, trying to register yet another unfortunate event.


	3. Chapter 3

            Rin was pacing back and forth after seeing the upset Nagisa home. He bit on his right thumb, the sting was dull since Makoto’s teeth weren’t like his. Makoto fidgeted from the couch where he was sitting.

 

            “You know, Mako, we have to fix this. We have to,” Rin’s voice rose in panic. “I have to have my body back. And I can’t wait for another two weeks.”

 

            “But what can we do? With Haru away, there’s not much.”

 

            “There has got to be a way. Research?”

 

            “What are we researching? The common phenomena of waking up in another person’s body?”

 

            Okay, Rin was right to think that it was too early to assume that Makoto was a nice person. Even if all the evidence prove that he was.

 

            “I don’t know, there should be something up in the records. I mean, movies like Freaky Friday must have a basis, an ancient belief or something.”

 

            “Says the sceptic.”

 

            “Hey! If you weren’t in my body, I’d bite you. Hard. Honestly, you’re way too calm in this situation.”

 

            “I am freaking out as much as you, thank you very much. I just think it’s better to collect our thoughts so that we don’t do something irrational.”

 

            “I bet you’re thinking of waiting for Haru to come back. Well, Makoto, I’m a cop and crimes couldn’t wait for another two weeks.”

 

            Makoto sighed.

 

            “You’re right. We should at least make an effort.” He mustered a smile, stretching out a hand for the new relationship he would have with this person. “Tachibana Makoto, local fireman.”

 

            “Matsuoka Rin.”

 

* * *

 

            In exactly three hours, Makoto banged his head on the library table. A few minutes ago, it was Rin, whom had already head out for a breather. It’s not that their search had led to nothing, but it was way too farfetched to believe, but Makoto made copies of the related pages anyway. He glanced at his phone for who knows how many times already. He had sent a text informing Haru about their situation after a few call attempts. He could only wish that Haru would see the text.

 

            He got up and piled all the remaining books before sending it to the nearest trolley. He sighed, what if they couldn’t get back before tonight. How was he supposed to report for his night shift? He couldn’t take the day off since he already promised Hasegawa, whose wife should be due for labour this week. He couldn’t have possibly send Rin to take his place as Makoto. What does Rin know about firefighting? And what does he know about crime fighting and legal procedures? What does he know about Rin?

 

            He spotted Rin in a coffee shop in the same library building. Rin mustered a weak smile and raised his hand a little to attract Makoto’s attention.

 

            “Want some chocolate cake? It looks tempting, but it’s way too sweet for my liking,” Rin pushed a slice of heavily topped chocolate cake which only have a bite out of it.

 

            “Thank you, Rin. I love chocolate.”

 

            “Good for you,” Rin sighed, and rest his head on his arm on the table. “Makoto, I don’t think I can make it, you know, living like this.”

 

            Makoto scooped a small piece of the cake. Once the chocolate made contact with his taste buds, all of his thoughts washed away, even for a moment. Unconsciously, his reaction towards the cake was a bit vocal. Rin snorted.

 

            “You must’ve love the cake.”

 

            “Huh?”

 

            “Uh, you- Um, you made weird sounds while eating it. It’s gross.”

 

            Immediately Makoto put his hand on his mouth, embarrassed. “I did? Sorry, Rin. Sorry!”

 

            “No, it’s not really gross. I mean, right now, you’re me and seeing myself with that face, I- it feels creepy. But that’s just me,” Rin took another sip of his coffee. “On the Brightside, someone’s willing to marry you with that face.”

 

            “I beg your pardon?”

 

            Rin chuckled as he leans in his seat. “I’m freaking out, Makoto. This whole thing, and-” he sighed. “I-I’m getting married by the end of this month.”

 

            “Well, that’s good news. Congratulations!”

 

            “Thanks, but that’s not the point. With only a few weeks away, there’s so many that needs to be done which I admit, I should’ve done it sooner. But, what am I supposed to do while I’m…you. What if we didn’t get back before the wedding? What should I do then? I can’t-”

 

           

 

            “Calm down, Rin. Right now, you’re not alone. We’re in the same boat here. Though I can’t promise you anything, but we’ll find a way.” Makoto immediately calms Rin when the other male’s voice started rise and his breathing became quicker. “So, right now, I need you to cooperate with me, because I can’t do this alone. I’ve sent an SOS to Haru, that’s a good start isn’t it? And there are some methods that we could try right here.”

 

            Makoto looked at Rin straight in the eye, looking for signs of cooling off. Marriage is a big deal, and for some people it is a huge deal. It is a life-changing decision which could go straight to your head. He knows. At his age, he’s been to a lot of weddings, where most of the time, he was the person to talk to when the bride or the groom had second thoughts at the very last minute. It’s funny how his friends and colleagues trusts him enough for his opinion when he’s never even been through a long-term relationship before.

 

            “So, the lucky lady.. Jessi was it? I heard Sousuke said a name this morning.”

 

            Rin laughed a bit, expression completely changed from panic. He unlocked his phone and scroll through his gallery before showing a photo to Makoto. A selfie of Rin with a very beautiful young woman and a little girl, huddled together under a very large woven blanket. All three of them had chocolate stains around their lips, probably from hot chocolate. The little girl and the young woman looked exactly like a copy of each other with very distinctive jet black wavy hair, but the little girl and Rin had the same wide grin and almost the same unique set of teeth.

 

            “Tracy…is my daughter. The bride-to-be is the mother, Hana.”

 

            “They’re both very pretty.”

 

            Rin pulled the phone back and stare at the photo. He smiled to himself “Yeah. They’re my pride and joy. For seven years now.”

 

            Makoto found himself smiling too. He cleared his throat. “All the more reason for us to try to get back to our own lives. So, are you with me, Rin?”

 

            “You’re right. I’m in.”

 

            “By the way, what do you know about firefighters?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohh wow... How long has it been? After the last update, I focused on my coursework and important non-fandom stuff called life. And now, I'm on industrial training at a wildlife conservation centre in the middle of a forest reserve which means communication line such as phone or internet line is scarce. And it's been so long, I think I forgot how to English. SORRY FOR EVERYTHING!!


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